18 Years until Death
by Charlie'sLostVampire
Summary: What if Stefan had kidnapped Elena instead of Andie during 3x01 "The Birthday"? Rated M for slight lemons in later chapters.
1. Losing Elena

Damon found Caroline in the crowd of teenagers at Elena's birthday party, pulling her aside.

"Where's Elena?" he asked her.

Caroline frowned. "What do you mean?" she called over the noise.

"I can't find her anywhere." Damon said.

Caroline looked irritated. "She had better not have disappeared; we haven't even done the cake yet…" she pulled away from him to search for her MIA birthday girl. Damon had been about to do the same when his cell phone buzzed. He frowned when the number was unknown, and went outside to answer it.

"Hello?"

"I thought I told you to stop following me?"

Damon frowned more deeply. "Stefan."

"Who were you expecting?"

Damon sighed. "What do you want, Stefan?"

"Well, I guess I didn't make it clear enough when I told you to stop following me. Now, I guess I'll just have to force you."

"What?" Damon snapped in irritation. "What do you mean? What did you do, Stefan?"

"Well, let me put it simply. You aren't following me because you want your brother back. You're doing it for Elena. So, if you don't have Elena…"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Damon hissed, his grip tightening on the phone.

"Oh, Elena? Why don't you say hi to Damon?"

"Damon! Damon, please help me…!" Elena sobbed on the other end.

"Better come quick, brother."

"What the hell are you doing to her?" Damon yelled, not caring who heard him.

"Well, you'll just have to come and see, won't you?"

Damon pursed his lips in anger. "Where are you?"

"The high school. Come find us…"

Then the line went dead.

Damon stood silently still for a moment. Then he snapped. "Son of a bitch!" he yelled, chucking his phone at the brick wall of the house, watching it spark and shatter, showcasing his rage excellently.

He was storming to his car when Caroline walked out the door. "What's going on? I heard you yelling…"

"Stefan has Elena."

"What? Stefan's back? What's wrong with that…?"

"He isn't _with _Elena, he _has _Elena; meaning he kidnapped her. And he's _hurting her_, Caroline!"

Caroline's eyes widened. "What? What's he doing to her…?"

"I don't know! But I need to get to her."

"I'm coming with you."

"No," Damon said when she started forward. "You're not. This is my problem. You stay here and make sure your friends don't destroy my house."

Caroline stared after him as he got in his car and sped away.

VvvvV

Damon threw open the front doors to the school, storming inside in fury.

"Stefan! Stefan, where are you? Stefan!"

Stefan swaggered around one of the corners, facing Damon casually, hands in his pockets. "Damon; what a nice surprise."

"Don't play innocent with me you ass. Where is Elena?"

Stefan looked confused, but Damon could see the grin. "Elena? Elena who?"

Damon lunged forward and pinned him to the wall, his fangs extending as his temper flared. "_WHERE IS ELENA?_" He screamed.

Stefan stood still for a moment, and then started to laugh. "Ooh, scary; my big bad brother gets all psychotic and angry over my girlfriend… you really should see a therapist about your temper, Damon."

Damon's eyes turned red. "_WHERE IS SHE?_"

Stefan shrugged. "I don't know, Damon. Why don't you go find her?"

"This isn't a game, Stefan!" Damon snarled, shoving him and backing away.

Stefan fixed his jacket. "Isn't it, though? Kind of like a game of hide and seek. The only difference is, if you don't find her… she dies."

"What in hell are you talking about? You wouldn't dare…"

Stefan grinned. "What would you do if I told you that you probably have five minutes to find her before she's lost to everyone forever?"

"Then I'll kill you." Damon snarled, advancing.

"Really? If Elena only has five minutes to live, you'd waste them killing me?"

Damon was beginning to look like a terrified, tortured caged animal. "Stefan, this isn't funny. Where is she?"

Stefan grinned. "It actually is pretty funny, Damon. Better hurry; time's a ticking!"

Shaking his head in disgust, Damon took off in search of Elena. He threw open the doors to every classroom he came across, using vampiric speed so as not to waste time. He felt like an idiot; a mouse in some twisted experiment, where he only had a few moments to find the cheese, or he would be starved to death. If Stefan wasn't joking… if Elena really was going to die…

"Three minutes, Damon! Better hurry, Elena needs you!"

"This isn't funny you bastard!" Damon yelled as he continued to search. "You love her! How could you even joke about doing something like this?"

"Easy, brother; I've moved on, and I'm not joking. Oh; two minutes. Do you want a hint?"

Damon glared as he continued to throw doors open.

"Oh, come on, brother; there's no harm in a little innocent cheating. Just one little hint? Don't you want it? You only have a minute and a half left…"

"Alright! Give me your damn hint!"

"Weights."

Rolling his eyes, Damon rushed toward the gym, running into the weight room. No Elena.

"Stefan!"

He could hear his brother laughing. "Keep thinking, Damon! You have less than a minute!"

Tossing the weight cart aside in anger, he ran out of the room again. "Stefan, where is she? Just tell me!"

"Two hints? That's bordering unfair, Damon…"

"Your first _hint _was misleading, you idiot!"

"Alright, alright… water. Twenty seconds, Damon."

He felt dread seep into his stomach. Water; pool. Weights and the pool…?

"YOU'RE DROWNING HER?" He yelled in horror as he ran for the pool. He could hear Stefan laughing. "You finally got it! Good job, brother! Ten seconds!"

Damon burst into the pool room, the blue water casting an eerie glow throughout the entire room.

"9…"

He caught sight of her deep in the water; Stefan hadn't been joking.

"8…"

She wasn't moving. Bubbles weren't rising. Oh, God…

"7…"

Damon ripped off his jacket and quickly kicked off his shoes.

"6…"

He dove into the pool and swam down to where Elena was, breaking the chains that were tied to the weights with a flick of his wrist and picking up Elena, pulling her to the surface. As soon as he broke through the top of the water, he could hear Stefan's agonizing count down. "3…"

"No. No, no, no…" he moaned as he dragged her onto the concrete siding of the pool and started pounding on her chest. "Come on, Elena, come on…"

"2…"

He bent down and breathed air into her lungs, pulling away and starting to pound on her chest again. Hot tears were pouring down his wet face as he begged her to respond. "Elena, please…" he begged, bending down again.

"1…"

He pounded on her chest in agony, breathing in more air, but she didn't respond.

Stefan walked in, looking at Damon with mock sympathy. "Times up, Damon."

Damon shook his head in horror. "Elena…?" he breathed.

She didn't move. Her skin was tinged blue with the icy feeling of being in the water too long. Her chest was still, and her eyes were shut.

She was gone.

Stefan gave a small grin. "Happy 18th birthday, Elena."

Damon choked back a sob. "I'm so sorry…" he moaned into her chest.

Elena Gilbert had done it. She had reached a milestone in her life that all teenagers dreamed off. The day she became an adult. But, no one had ever imagined that the day Elena moved from one stage of her life to another, that it would be from life to death.


	2. Goodbye, Brother

Damon gazed at Elena in total disbelief. She wasn't moving. She wasn't breathing. She was… dead.

The one thing in 145 years that had truly made him happy, and Stefan had taken it away from him; again. He killed her. He _drowned _her!

He shuddered, agonized at the thought of her suffering; that he hadn't saved her when she so desperately needed him. After everything they had survived through, he had failed to protect her from his own brother. Out of all the things that had threatened to kill her, it had been Stefan who was successful. _Stefan!_

Slowly, fury causing him to tremble, Damon lifted his head from Elena's still chest. "You." He snarled, his eyes locking on Stefan, who appeared to be trying not to laugh. "_You did this!_"

Stefan grinned. "That I did, big brother."

"_YOU KILLED HER!_"

Stefan chucked and Damon screamed, infuriated, launching himself at him. Seconds later, they both plunged into the pool.

Shock was evident on Stefan's face; clearly he had been expecting Damon to attack him, but he hadn't been expecting him to throw them both in the pool!

Damon had his fingers wrapped tightly around Stefan's neck and was shaking him senseless as they were both submerged in the deep water. Punching his older brother in the gut, Stefan swam for the surface. He sucked in a breath of air, looking around for Damon awaiting his next move. Nervousness sank into his stomach when he couldn't see him anywhere. Where…?

He gasped when the water parted behind him, and suddenly Damon was latched onto his back. He yowled in shock when his brother viciously sank his extended fangs into his neck, tearing at the flesh there in order to cause him as much agony as possible. Stefan flailed around in the water, attempting to pry Damon off of him. Blood was spilling from his neck, turning the water around them into a dark, bloody red cloud.

Refusing to let go, like a true leech, Damon dragged Stefan to the edge of the pool and threw him down on the concrete, pinning him there. For the first time in years, Stefan was truly terrified of his older brother. As he loomed above him, vamped out with blood covering his face and his black hair, dripping with a mixture of water a blood, falling into his murderous eyes, it was all Stefan could do not to cringe away like a frightened animal.

"What, are you going to kill me?" Stefan asked, his voice shaking. "I'm your brother, Damon! You wouldn't really kill your own brother over some stupid girl…?"

Damon slammed Stefan's head into the cement, biting him again. Stefan yelled out in more agony. "Just-some-stupid-girl?" Damon snapped, punctuating each word with yet another bite. "It was Elena! You killed _Elena!_"

Angry tears were falling down Damon's face.

"So? Neither of us ever really loved her! It was all because she looked like Katherine!"

Damon was trembling. "Go to hell, Stefan." He muttered, and Stefan immediately knew what his brother was going to do.

"Damon, don't do this…!"

"_GO TO HELL!_" he screamed, his voice echoing in the large room. Within the next two seconds his hand was plunged into Stefan's chest and, with once last pleading glance from him, Damon ripped out his heart.

_** I received a lot of requests saying they would like more to be done with this story… I wrote this during my free time after exams today, which is why it's so short, but I have a few more ideas. If you want more, leave a review! All I need is one person saying they want me to continue, and I will. **_


	3. An Abrupt Hault to the End

Damon gaped down at his now dead little brother. Stefan's eyes, which had been laughing at his pain only moments ago, were now staring straight upward at the ceiling. Damon tore his eyes away from his face to stare at the heart, bloody and dripping onto the wet floor, still in his hand. Disgusted at what he had just done on a furious whim of pure emotion, Damon tossed it down and stood quickly, moving as far away from the corpse as possible.

Had he really just done that? Had he honestly, after 145 years of saying that's what he wanted to do but never following through… killed his brother?

Stefan's bloody heart oozing on the soaked concrete confirmed it. His brother was dead. Stefan was dead.

Breathing heavily, Damon tore his eyes away and they landed on the motionless Elena who still lay a few feet away from Stefan. She was dead, too.

Stefan was dead. Elena was dead.

Trembling, Damon sank down the wall, tears filling his blue eyes. Everyone he cared about always died, and it was always his fault. When he was young, his mother had taken ill and died because she had been out all night in the freezing cold rain searching for him when he ran away. Rose had died only a few months ago because he had gotten on the bad side of a werewolf, and she had gotten in the way. Elena's aunt Jenna had died because Klaus had needed a replacement vampire after he rescued Caroline.

Now Elena was dead because he hadn't been fast enough to save her, and Stefan was dead because Damon had let his hatred overpower his logic.

Everyone always died. Everyone always died, and it was always his fault.

Unable to hold it in anymore, Damon broke into agonized sobs, the feeling of being completely alone over coming him. He ran his fingers through his hair as he heaved in agony, pulling at the black tresses in despise of himself. He needed a way out. He couldn't take this agony a moment longer. Forcing his eyes open, he searched frantically around the room for his only form of escape from his pitiful excuse for a life.

There, a few feet away; a long, jagged, piece of wood with blue paint chipping off of it. It was lying on the floor, and he noticed that it had broken off one of the banner hanging beams above the pool. As if some other power had known he would need to off himself, and was giving him that much desired ticket out of life.

Moaning, Damon pulled himself over to the spot where the makeshift stake lay and he picked it up in his hands, examining it. As his fist clenched around it, visions of his life began to play through his mind. His mother, her black curls pulled back from her face, chasing him around the garden when he was little in her favorite lilac dress, her blue eyes shining; his mother, dead and cold, lying in her coffin as he said his final goodbye years later.

More tears falling from his eyes, Damon lifted the stake.

Stefan and himself, at Stefan's first Lockwood party, drinking champagne in a dark corner and laughing at the girls' ridiculous dresses, acting like two completely drunk and rowdy teenage brothers, which they, in fact, were; Stefan, lying beneath him, heartless and dead.

Choking back a pathetic sob, Damon poised the stake above his heart.

Elena Gilbert. Oh, Elena… meeting her for the first time in the boarding house and scaring the living daylights out of her. Watching her sleep peacefully the same night he killed that pompous ass, Mr. Tanner. Elena, terrified and begging for him to help her when her car crashed the night she discovered she was Katherine's doppelganger. Elena, freaking out at him for taking her to Georgia without her permission. Elena, who turned out to be quite hilarious when she was drunk, dancing around like a little kid when she beat him at shots. Elena saving his life from Lexi's vengeful boyfriend. Elena in his arms, dancing gracefully during the Miss Mystic Falls pageant. Elena, more gorgeous than ever on Founder's Day. Saving her from an arrow, telling her he loved her and then compelling her to forget, keeping her from rushing into the tomb with Stefan and Katherine, making her hate him, making her love him… when she had thought he was dying, and had made him feel better than he ever had in his entire life…

Elena, not responding to his frantic attempts at CPR when he was too slow to save her life.

He glanced at her, motionless, across the room and screamed in more agony than ever before; Elena Gilbert, dead, all because of him.

Holding the stake out, he began the fast decent toward his heart.

Across the pool room, Elena gasped in a sharp breath of air and her eyes snapped open as she clawed at the concrete below her.

Damon gasped and dropped the stake just as it was about to pierce his chest.

_Elena Gilbert was alive._


	4. Denial

"Elena?" Damon whispered, not believing what he was seeing. When she continued to gasp, clearly not dead, he scrambled over to her side. "Elena!"

Her eyes flew up to him. "Damon…?" she whimpered, trembling.

"Oh, my God…!" he gasped, grabbing her and pulling her into his arms and clinging to her tightly.

"What… what happened…?"

"You drowned! You were dead…!" he trailed off, his eyes widening as he pulled away to look at her. "Oh, my God…"

Elena, who was clutching his arms in a frenzy of shock and confusion, frowned. "What? What's wrong…?"

"Elena," Damon said slowly. "You _died. _You were dead for over ten minutes… what happened? What exactly happened to you?"

Elena looked down, thinking. "The party was just too much. I hardly knew anyone, and it was so loud… I went outside to get some air before Caroline forced me to blow out my candles… and Stefan was there. He said that he was back… and that Klaus was gone. But he… he lied. He brought me…" Elena looked around. "He brought me here. God, I was so stupid; I forgot to take vervain last night, and he knew… he grabbed my necklace and threw it, and then compelled me to stand still while he…" Elena looked horrified as she cringed away from Damon a bit. "He compelled me to stand still while he chained weights to me, and the he dragged me to the pool room… which was when you called." She looked up at him, tears filling her eyes. "Oh, Damon, I was so scared… I didn't think he would ever do anything to hurt me… but he heard you come in and… and…!"

Elena was gasping for breath, tears pouring down her cheeks as she sobbed.

"Elena," Damon said in a soothing tone, taking her chin in his hand gently, "Just take a deep breath, okay? Come on…"

He brushed hair out of her eyes and she grew even more hysterical as she screamed, "_He threw me into the pool!_"

Damon cringed at her shriek, and then she broke down, sobbing heavily into his already wet shirt. "Where were you? What happened…?"

"He wouldn't tell me where you were… Elena, he did it to get even at me for tracking him and Klaus. He knew hurting you would hurt me…"

"But he loves me! Stefan loves me! Why would he try to kill me just to hurt you…?"

"Elena… he did kill you."

She jerked away, narrowing her eyes. "_What…?_"

"You were _dead. _When I finally found you, I jumped into that pool and pulled you out. I spent a good ten minutes giving you CPR and that bastard just laughed at me." Damon looked down miserably. "You were dead before I even found you."

"I'm not dead! I'm alive right now…!"

Damon didn't reply. He knew there was only one logical answer for Elena sitting in front of him right now, alive; she wasn't. Obviously, Stefan hadn't been as much of a macho ripper as he had let on, and couldn't let Elena just _die. _Instead, he took her choice away… and turned her into a vampire.

"Elena… did anything else happen to you before Stefan threw you in that pool?"

Elena blinked as she thought, and then her eyes widened as a seemingly clouded memory seemed to return to her. "He fed me blood." She whispered in shock. "_He fed me his blood!_"

Damon's face fell as his worst fear was confirmed.

"_No!_" Elena screamed in a horrified high pitch. "_No; no, he wouldn't do this to me! He would never do this! I'm not turning into a vampire! I'm __**not…!**_"

"Elena…" Damon whispered, feeling helpless.

"_I can't turn! I don't want to turn…! No! No, no, no…!_"

Her screams trailed off into sobs of denial as she slumped forward miserably, shaking her head.

Damon moved toward her, afraid to touch her. "Elena…?"

She looked up at him, her brown wide doe-eyes filled with tears and misery, and whispered, "I don't want to be a vampire."

"I know, Elena…" Damon said quietly, reaching out a cautious hand to touch her shoulder.

Of course, she flinched away, looking angry. "No, you don't! You tried to take my choice away before, too! You didn't care anymore than he did if I wanted it! Neither of you ever respect my decisions!"

She was glaring at him as she shakily got to her feet. "I hate you. I hate both of you!"

"Elena," Damon said as she stood and his voice broke. "Elena!"

He called after her as she ran out the door and tore out of the school, sobbing.

He moaned, squeezing his eyes shut. He should have killed himself. He should have just killed himself…

Could this night get any worse?

_Of course it could, _he thought, looking at his brother's body, _Elena could have seen __**that. **_


	5. Overly Emotional Elena

From his spot on the couch, Damon tossed back yet another drink. He wasn't sure which this one was; he had lost count about thirteen ago. After Elena had ran from the school, he had sat there for nearly an hour, wondering if she was going to come back. She didn't. So… he did what obviously had to be done; buried Stefan. Then, he came home and did what Damon did best; got hopelessly drunk.

Of course, Caroline had been waiting anxiously when he got there, having kicked everyone out hours ago.

"What's going on? Where's Elena?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know? What do you mean _you don't know…?_"

"I mean exactly that, Caroline! I have no idea where she is. She ran off."

"Ran off? Why? I thought you said Stefan had her…?"

"Stefan's dead."

Caroline froze in shock. "What…?"

"He killed Elena. So I killed him. End of story."

Damon had walked over to his alcohol cart and started drinking without hesitation.

"But, if he killed Elena, then how…?"

"She's turning into a vampire. He fed her his blood and then he drowned her. When she figured everything out, she said that all Stefan and I have ever done is take her choices away from her… then she said that she hated me and ran away."

"And you didn't follow her? What the hell is wrong with you…?"

"She said she hated me, Caroline! Typically, when someone screams that at you, it means they don't want to be followed!"

"She's in transition, Damon! If she stumbles across blood like I did… we have to find her. We have to go look for her…!"

"Then go, Caroline," Damon said miserably, "Because she sure as hell doesn't want me to do it."

Now, he was sitting in a depression on the couch, tossing back whisky and wishing he had killed himself when he had the chance. He was staring considering at one of the antique oak table's chair legs when there was a frantic knock at the door.

"Go away." Damon said, glaring into the fireplace.

The knocking persisted. "I told you to go the hell away!"

Still, the knocking didn't stop. Prepared to rip the knocker's head off, Damon got to his feet and stalked to the door. "I told you to stop…!"

His eyes widened and his angry words froze when he saw who it was.

Elena Gilbert was standing, doe-eyed and shaking, before him, covered in fresh blood. "Damon…" she breathed, tears pouring down her face.

"Oh, my God…" he gasped, putting down his drink and grabbing her elbow, pulling her into the house. "What happened?"

Elena was sobbing. "I… I went home… but I couldn't help myself… he didn't even know what was happening… oh, Damon…"

She thrust herself, sobbing, into his arms.

"Who," Damon asked, dreading her answer. "Who was it?"

She turned her head up, looking mortified. "Alaric. I attacked Alaric…!"

Damon heaved a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God…"

"Thank God?" Elena snapped. "He's _dead _Damon…!"

"And he's Alaric, Elena! Ring, remember? He'll be fine."

"Oh…" Elena whispered, her tense shoulders relaxing a bit. "Oh, thank goodness…"

"Why did you come here?" Damon asked suddenly. "I thought you hated me…?"

She looked miserable. "I don't hate you, Damon. I need you."

Damon sighed. "Let's go get you cleaned up, alright?"

"No," she whimpered, "No, I don't want to…"

He frowned. "What? Why not…?"

"I killed Alaric, Damon! I drank his blood! I…I…!" she sobbed, "_I'm a vampire!_"

"Oh, sweetheart…" Damon whispered, pulling her quivering form into his arms. "It's going to be okay; everything is going to be okay. I'll take care of you…"

She sobbed into his shoulder, clinging tightly to him. "I'm sorry I said I hated you…" she whimpered. "I didn't mean it, I swear I didn't…"

"I know," Damon stroked her hair comfortingly. "I know."

She sniffled and nuzzled his shoulder. "What am I going to do?"

He sighed. "Let's start by getting you out of these bloody clothes…"

She wiped her eyes and nodded, taking his hand and following him up to his bedroom. He opened one of the drawers in his dresser and pulled out a black cotton John Varvatos button up and a pair of black boxers. Elena was standing by the bathroom door, hugging herself, still clearly upset.

"Come on," Damon said, taking her small hand in his larger one and leading her into the large on suite bathroom. He picked her up around her waist and placed her on the counter, grabbing a soft white facecloth and wetting it, gently brushing her hair aside and wiping away the blood. Elena looked down miserably, tears running down her cheeks and leaving streaks.

"Hey," Damon said softly, tilting her chin up. "Stop crying, okay? There's no point being upset; what's done is done."

She sighed when he finished. "How can you sound so calm? I'm a vampire, Damon… everything we did to prevent it from happening in the spring… and it happened anyway. John died for nothing."

"Hey," Damon said, shaking his head. "John did not die for nothing. It worked, didn't it? You came back human. Which is what he wanted. It's no one's fault but Stefan's that you were turned anyway."

Elena frowned. "Where is Stefan?"

Damon winced and looked down, biting his lip.

Elena's frown deepened. "Damon? What's wrong?"

He shook his head. "You'll hate me. I can't tell you…"

"Damon," she said firmly, and he looked up. "Tell me. Now."

His eyes grew sad and he sighed. "Stefan… is dead. He was so… _nonchalant _about you being dead… I snapped. Elena, I'm so sorry…"

He ran a frantic hand through his hair and turned, not able to bear to see her reaction.

Behind him, Elena's eyes were wide with disbelief. "You… you killed Stefan…?"

Damon slowly turned and nodded. "Yes. I hate myself for it… and I can't take it back. Elena…"

"You killed your own brother… over me?"

He looked down again. "I know that I shouldn't have… I should have controlled myself… but I just _couldn't…_"

"Do you really love me that much?" she whispered, a bit awe stricken.

Damon looked up and nodded slowly. "Yes."

Elena slid off the counter top and onto her feet, walking over to him looking up into his eyes. She reached up and stroked his cheek tenderly. "I can't believe I never realized… just how much you really do love me… oh, Damon… _Damon…_"

She moved closer to him, hugging him tightly around his neck. Damon released a breath he had been holding since he had confessed, holding her back just a firmly. "I love you so much…"

"I know…" she whispered, and Damon's grip around her waist tightened in surprise when she nibbled gently at his ear. "Elena…?"

"I know you love me… and I want you, too… _Damon…_"

Then he understood; Elena's emotions were amplified. It just so happened that one of her most prominent emotions was her lust toward him. Now, she obviously was having trouble controlling herself…

"Elena… you don't want this. You don't want _me… _I killed the man you want."

He released her and pushed her away a bit. She looked like she felt rejected. "But I do want you… Damon, you know I do…"

"You're emotions are amplified, Elena; you don't want me, you just think that you do."

"Damon, you love me. You do love me, don't you?"

He nodded. "Of course I do. You know I do…"

"Then why are you denying me…?" she whispered, moving closer to him again. Damon's eyes fluttered shut as she stood directly in front of him, her lips close enough to kiss. "If I want you, and you want me… why deny it?"

"Because… because you don't love me…" he said, swallowing roughly.

She smiled softly and brushed her lips against his for an instant. "I do love you, Damon. I've just felt guilty about it before now… but now I have no reason to feel guilty."

Damon felt one last instant of guilt toward his dead brother, and then Elena was kissing him, and all hope was lost.

_**I have a feeling that this was slightly OOC… but I had a bit of writers block, and I figured the best way to break it would be an overly emotional Elena. Opinions? Remember to review! I haven't gotten any reviews on this story in a while, so if no one reviews this chapter, I'll probably stop writing here; I have a few other stories on the go that get more reviews, and I can't waste time on something that no one reads!- Charlie'sLostVampire **_


	6. Jealousy is Sexy

Damon woke to sunlight streaming in through his open curtains. He frowned in confusion; he always shut them at night. He hated nothing more than waking up at the crack of dawn, thanks to the sun. He was trying to recall why he hadn't shut them when his sheets rustled beside him and there was a soft, feminine sigh. He opened his eyes, taking in the sight before him in slight disbelief; Elena Gilbert was snuggled up beside him in his sheets, only his blankets covering her from watching eyes. Suddenly it all came back to him; after Elena kissed him, his willpower had evaporated. Not only was Elena Gilbert kissing him, but it was her own decision. It was _her _who had led him into his dark bedroom, using her new found strength to push him down onto his bed, and then using her speed to remove his shirt. Damon had been a bit surprised; she hadn't popped a single button off. Of course, it's one thing to have a human Elena using her charms and wiles on him; but a vampire? It was like 1864 all over again, but so much more at the same time. He loved Elena more than anything, and had worked a thousand times harder to get here with her than he had with Katherine; and, in the end, it had been her who made the first move. _Elena Gilbert _had moved in on him, not the other way around.

Damon stared at the ceiling in disbelief, shutting his eyes again, reliving last night's events. Of course, Elena had been thrilled with the fact that she could actually pin Damon down with ease, giddy with the fact that she was as strong, if not stronger than him. As things grew more heated, Damon decided to remind her which of them really was the older, more experienced vampire…

A low growl sounded in Damon's throat at the memory, and Elena stirred. He opened one eye to look at her; she was lying on her side, watching him with her soft brown eyes. There was something… different about those eyes. Was it because she was a vampire now? He began to notice more slight differences, and opened his other eye to take them in. If at all possible, vampirism had made Elena Gilbert even more startlingly beautiful; her hair seemed thicker, and had more of a natural sheen to it. Her eyes were somewhat wider, and seemed to have that glint of a hunter shining within. Her lips were fuller, and her lashes thicker. At the moment, those eyes were watching him, a smile tugging at her lips, "What are you staring at?"

Damon rolled onto his side and reached over, running a hand through her hair; he had been right about the sheen. It now had the natural silkiness that his possessed. He sighed, "You look different."

Her smile slipped, "What? I… I do…?"

His eyes widened, "No, I don't mean it in a bad way! God, no… if anything, you look more beautiful."

Elena bit her lip with perfect white teeth, "Don't say that. Please, Damon, just… don't."

He frowned in confusion, "Why not?"

She shook her head, "I don't want to be beautiful because I'm a… a vampire."

Damon moved closer and wrapped an arm around her; she snuggled into his bare, muscled chest and sniffled.

"Elena… that is not why I think you're beautiful."

He kissed her temple lovingly, "You're more beautiful on the inside than vampirism could ever make you on the outside…"

She gave him a tiny smile, "Yeah… you told me I was beautiful a lot last night."

He chuckled and nuzzled her hair, "Did I?"

"Mm…" she mumbled, moving her head so that he kissed her lips. The kiss was intense and passionate, and seemed to have no end seeing as though neither of them had to breathe. Finally, Elena pulled away and leaned her forehead against his, whispering, "I love you."

Damon gave her a soft Eskimo kiss with his nose, "I love you more."

Elena giggled, but then frowned in confusion when Damon's cellphone rang, "I thought you turned it off?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, "You didn't exactly give me an opportunity to…"

Elena pouted, "Just leave it; it will stop."

Damon grinned and held her closer, tracing patterns on her bare back, "I'm perfectly fine with that."

She giggled and kissed him again, rolling on top of him, their legs tangling together as she deepened the kiss. Elena screamed in frustration when Damon's cellphone rang again.

He sighed, "Maybe I should go turn it off."

She pouted, "Fine…"

He stood up and wrapped a sheet around his waist, walking across the room to retrieve his phone. He rolled his eyes when he noticed the number, "It's Andie."

Elena glared, "Stupid slut…"

"Whoa-ho!" Damon exclaimed, whirling on her in surprise, "Feisty! What's got you so riled up?"

She glared as she sat up, the sheet wrapped around her chest, "I don't like her; even you have to admit she's a slut."

Damon raised an eyebrow as he shut off his phone and tossed it down, leaning against his dresser, "What makes you say that?"

"Do you recall the night she stood up here in her underwear and heals and waited for you when you told her to leave?"

Damon bit his lip as he looked down; that was also the night he had nearly killed Andie, just to make his point. "Yeah…"

"_Slutty…_"

Damon sniggered, "Elena Gilbert, if I didn't know better, I'd say you were jealous."

The hunter's gleam glinted in her eyes as she leaned forward, "Maybe I am."

He raised an eyebrow and started forward, "Now, why would you be jealous?"

The blankets wrapped around her, Elena began to crawl down the bed toward him, "Because you are _mine; _I have every right to be jealous of slutty little bimbos who try to take you from me."

Damon flew forward with vampiric speed, having her pinned beneath him on the bed instantly, "You have nothing to be jealous about, _Elena…_" He purred her name, kissing her neck and making his way down to her chest, "Because there is no competition."

Elena took his face in her hands. "Good," she said huskily before roughly pulling his lips back up to hers. Damon growled and held her more tightly, kissing her more hungrily. Elena responded by wrapping her legs around his waist and tearing away the blankets that separated their bodies; Damon's growls turned into throaty laughter as he kissed her. It would appear that the two emotions that Elena had amplified the most were her lust toward him, and her jealousy.

_Sexy, _he thought in appreciation.

Had anyone mentioned his brother at this point, he would have replied without any guilt in the world; _Stefan who?_


	7. It's Not Over Yet

Klaus was furious. It was one thing for Stefan to decide to deal with his brother on his own. Sure, why not! A little sibling rivalry never hurt anybody.

No, apparently it gets you _killed. _Klaus glared into the backseat of his car where Stefan lay, heartless and dead. What could he have possibly done to piss of Damon so much? He knew the other Salvatore brother was impulsive, but this; this was madness!

Klaus pulled into the driveway he had been searching for and got out of the car, walking up the pathway to the front door. He knocked on the glass, waiting for an answer. Finally, a woman, who appeared to be in her early thirties, opened the inside door. She glared when she saw who was on the other side of the glass, "What do _you _want?"

Klaus smiled brilliantly, "Eliza! How's my favorite witch been over the last few decades? Sorry; I would have dropped in, but I've been a bit busy."

"So I've heard," Eliza said, opening the door with her dark hand and swishing her long, black hair over her shoulder. "I'll say it again," she said, "What do _you _want?"

"Well, you see, my friend ran into a bit of a… family crisis down in Mystic Falls."

"_Mystic Falls,_" Eliza grinned, "That the town that's been gettin' all them animal attacks?"

Klaus grinned and nodded, "That would be the one. You see, I would have left him where I found him, but it so happens I'm not finished with him yet."

He gestured Eliza outside and she followed him over to the car, where she glanced at Stefan through the backseat window. She frowned, "What's wrong with him?"

Klaus opened the door and pulled Stefan's lifeless corpse out, ripping the front of his shirt open. Eliza whistled in appreciation at Damon's handiwork, "Your friend here musta done somethin' _real _bad to deserve that."

"Yes, that's another problem; I don't know what that is. All I know is he's dead, and I can't have that."

"So you want me to bring him back."

Klaus nodded, "Surely someone as gifted as you could do it."

She laughed, "No need to butter me up, sugarcakes; I've had over 150 years of butterin', and it aint getting' you nowhere. However, he seems like a pretty little thing, so I'll… lend you a hand."

Klaus grinned; it just so happened that Eliza was an ancient practice of the darkest of magics, having casted spells to keep herself at a beautiful, but not suspicious age for nearly two centuries, and having aided Klaus in his devious plans during most of them. She had done everything from babysitting his damn coffins for a few years, to bringing his minions back from the dead.

_ Yes, she could bring back a dead vampire. _

"Bring him inside and I'll see what I can do."

Eliza frowned as Klaus dropped Stefan onto her couch, "It's gonna be harder than usual; what with his heart being gone and all. I'll need some sort of substitute."

"A substitute for a heart?" Klaus asked skeptically.

"Hm… I've got it." Eliza smiled and walked over to her smouldering fireplace and picked up a rather large lump of coal. "A dark heart to serve the darkest of masters," she said, grinning at Klaus as she, with no hesitation at all, plunged her coal filled hand into Stefan's chest, lodging the rock where his heart should be. "Cicatricem vulneribus suis," she said, and, to Klaus' astonishment that never seemed to cease when it came to Eliza's work, the gaping hole Damon had created quickly disappeared, not even leaving a scar.

"Light me a few candles," Eliza said, and Klaus did so.

Four hours later, the door to Eliza's house flew open yet again, and Klaus walked out into the afternoon sunshine.

Followed closely behind by a very dark, glowering Stefan.

VvvvV

"Stop it!"

There was a peal of giggles coming from Damon's bedroom. "Damon, stop…!"

Elena squealed as he chased her around the bedroom, which they had failed to leave in close to 24 hours. She giggled when he finally grabbed her around the waist, proceeding to kiss his way up her neck and to her temple, down her cheek and finally reaching her lips. Elena giggled again under his lips, and Damon grinned. "You know," he said, "Eventually we're going to have to leave this room."

"Ooh…" Elena purred, turning her body so she was facing him and wrapping her arms around his neck, "You want to take this somewhere else? Maybe one of the cells…" she grinned at him, "Kinky."

Damon rolled his eyes, grinning, "I meant we're going to have to face the real world eventually. As much as I would love to keep you up here in my bed forever… you're going to have to feed eventually."

Elena's smile slipped completely and she shook her head, moving out of his embrace and walking over to the window, quickly recoiling and screeching when the sunlight burned her skin. Damon's eyes widened and he ran to her side, "Are you okay?"

She shook her head, tears in her eyes, "I can't even leave the house!"

Damon tucked her hair behind her ear, "We'll get Bonnie to make you a daylight ring…"

"No," Elena whimpered, walking over to sit on Damon's bed again, clad in one of his button downs and a pair of his black boxers, "I don't want Bonnie to know… what I am."

Damon frowned in concern and walked over to sit beside her, "You'll have to tell them eventually, Elena. They're going to want answers when they find out that you killed Alaric."

"No," Elena shook her head again, burying her face in her knees. Her voice was muffled as she replied, "Tell them it was Katherine."

Damon pulled her over into his lap, placing soothing kisses to her cheek. "They'll find out on their own anyway, Elena. Wouldn't you rather tell them the truth?"

Her feelings from last night were returning, "No, I wouldn't! I don't want this, Damon!"

"Well, no one is going to believe it was Katherine, anyway," he said, biting his lip. Her head shot up, "What? Why not…?"

"I… sort of told Caroline about your… situation."

"You…did… _what?_"

She tore out of his arms and half way across the room, glaring, "How could you do that…?"

"She was still here when I came home, Elena! She wanted to know what had happened to you…"  
>"You should have told her I was dead!"<p>

Damon recoiled at her words, shocked, "Elena… you would rather your friends all think you were dead rather than have them know the truth?"

She nodded, hugging herself, "Bonnie won't understand. Matt will feel abandoned… I'm not sure about Caroline. Damon… I don't want them to all see me like this. Like a monster that can't even stop herself from k-killing Alaric…!"

Damon stood up, frowning, "You aren't a monster, Elena…"

"I'm a vampire, Damon! How can you say I'm not a monster?"

"Is that what you see me as?" he snapped, frowning, "_A monster?_"

Elena's eyes widened at his reaction, and she quickly shook her head. "No," she whispered, "Of course I don't!"

"Then why are you so convinced that you're one?"

She sniffled, "I'm afraid, if they all find out what I am, they'll come here. I could hurt Matt…"  
>Damon grinned a little bit, "Bonnie could help with that, too."<p>

Elena looked at him in confusion, "How?"

Damon pointed to his head, "A tiny vampire aneurism and she'll put you in line."

Elena recoiled at the idea, "Oh, no…"

"Come here," Damon muttered, pulling her into his arms, "You don't have to do anything until you're ready, alright?"

She nodded against his chest.

He rubbed her back and kissed her hair, "I told you that this wasn't going to be easy. But we're going to get through it, okay? The first little while is the hardest… but it gets easier."

Elena nodded silently again, relishing in his comforting words.

"You don't have to see anyone until you want to…"

His comforting words were interrupted by the front door flying open downstairs.

"Damon!" Caroline's voice shrieked, "Come quick; _Elena killed Alaric!_"

VvvvV

"So… are you ready to tell me why Damon killed you?"

Stefan didn't respond. He simply sat in the passenger seat and glared straight ahead. Klaus sighed, "A heart of coal makes for one boring road trip partner…"  
>Stefan slowly turned his glare toward Klaus, "Hurry up and finish whatever business it is we need to do."<p>

Klaus' eyes widened as he glanced at Stefan, "Why should I do that?"

"Because," Stefan said, staring straight ahead again, "As soon as we're done, we're going back to Mystic Falls."

"Are we, now? Why would that be?"

"I'm going to kill my brother."

_**I know, I know; you hate me. Cliffhanger! So, what do you think? Badass Stefan is back, and badder than ever! So, what do you think will happen next? Will Stefan kill Damon? What will Elena do when she discovers he's alive? More importantly, what will Stefan do when he discovers Elena slept with his brother the night that he died? Prepare for all of this and more in the next chapter of "18 Years until Death"! **_


End file.
